The markets extended its losses during the midday as the list of victims from Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme grew. The Dow dropped 82 points to 8548 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 31 points to 1510.
On the upside
The board of Liberty Media (Nasdaq: LCAPA) approved plans to spin off its Liberty Entertainment (Nasdaq: LMDIA) business.A Barron's article said that hospitality and entertainment company Gaylord Entertainment (NYSE: GET) stock is undervalued and should be worth $50 prompting an upgrade.
Teck Cominco (NYSE: TCK) cited a drop in metal demand and low zinc prices for temporarily closing its Pend Oreille Operations in Washington.
On the downside
Shopping center owner Developers Diversified Realty (NYSE: DDR) will not be able to sell thirteen assets by mid-December as originally announced.
Merrill Lynch analyst Guy Moszkowski downgraded JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and expects the company to post a fourth quarter loss.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks tumbled 11 points to 457.